The Dickinson press., 1887-07-23
AN INDIAN TREATY.

Ilitills NHltu StlctCu from unc 1ipit. III tllo
Breast Divlet to the thick woods lying he
ycnd thc North Saskatchewan river lav
broiling i'll the sun. I'll" air rose from the
hot arouml and rolled in heated waves across
the sea Of arid land breaking into simmer
ing foam against the builcs and divides, and
raging i'll angry tumult i'll the low lying land
Every depression was Il boiling sea of heat.
Every hill was sea girt island, against
which impalpahlc waves foamed, and long.
silver tongues of heat Swishe'l far up their
flanks. The wind, douhy heated sirocco,
blew i'll pntfs, and the scaut, buffalo tranprd
heritage was whipped intorihhons and ground
into brown powder and flung into vast cal
drons of boiling air. Between the
putfs of hot, withering Mexican breath
tiny whirlwintls rose from the cal,
drons to be blown into brown haze 10y
the succeeding puff. Birds, with parted
bills and dropping wings and hcaving breasts,
stood i'll the shade cast 10y Il low growing cac-
tus, and closely hugsed the Spiny plants.
Spectre prairie fires CHASED one another
across the arid, gravelly plains, and great
tongues of seeming flames We're thrust far in
advance of the pillows Of heat. Seen through
the heated air, rocks, antelope, buffalo, We're
transformed into nwe inspiring or fantastic
objects. Nature was coujuring i'll the land of
eilt' loi1Skictl oloupS w lIip'iiltt'i anu
blanketel Indians dashed from l,;hind hills
and descended into valleys. toem"rge MS ante
lopc buffalo. Mirases sprang into life.
Here was mountain scene. There, on q
tree encirclel lake, white breasted swans and
geese sported. Yonler the 9lprirs of the
cypress hills We're revealed, and there the
canyons, snow peaked and pine clad. of st.
MaIyS lake rose out of the ground. 1hs
pictures changed continually. One instinct
lively listened to hear the sound produced by
the shifting of the scenes. The low ,lrprc>-
sion, which had been flied with alkaline
Aller i'll the spring, We're dry and paved with
i'll fitting, loose jointed tiles of sun baked,
wllite mud. The profound silence was broken
only by the sad, moulnful cry of Il hawk,
which circlcl high above the hot, parrhe,l
earth.
In deep valley, gougel i'll the plains 10y tie
cold water of the Belly river, at the p"irt
where the st. Mary's river joins the former
stre;.m the Haley Brothers trading post
STOOL, apparently in II sea of flame. 1t was
hot on the plains. 1t was hotter in this nar-
low valley. Men lay ON the ground i'll the
shade cast by the walls of the ln. fort and
painted. Hatless, shoclcss. with open shirts,
girls i'll bright color,d, flowing gowlN; walked
stood in the blazing sun for .n instant us they
gazed ut the 4uivering crest of the canon like
walls of the valley. Then turned and, after
speaking lowly to their white lovers. slowly
re-entered the fort The sulIcll, fierce vsagel
men paid 10 attention to the girls, but lay
silently suffering. Occasionally one of them
would unbuckle his revolver belt and ii'itally
casting it on the ground would pull oil his
flannel shirt and plunge into the river. The
valley was absolutely silent, except for the
murnAuring of the rapidly houin water.
Suddenly mn old man, WHO'S" iii" had been
spent in the service of the Hudson Bay aud
Northwestern Fur companies. and WHO had
been lying on his back close T." the wall Of the
fort, apparently in profound sl"'p, sprang to
his feet, alert, active. lie leaned toward
EaZntl up the valley, li>!cur'l at"n;ivrly for
am instant. then called aloud to his comrades:
"Thcre is fighting going on up th" st. Aaly's
valley" Instantly all til" men wei" on their
feet and listening. Then they ''aslir', into the
fort The doors were shut Rifles were
grlspeel and the employees silently took their
respective stations. Up the valley, far beyond
the pom, which iuts into the river, faint rifle
shots could l,t l.,.aml, mingled with ycls and
Indian bn,tir t'rics. Presently the battle
sounds grew nearer and tie firing increased
in volume ;,Hl the shouting was inccssant In
fcw minutes til. contestants swarmcd
aroumi the point in Il seemingly confused
mass and it wis seen that the 6l,cki""t were
being whipped and were III full retreat.
Braves ti!le"' UP there arms. wayrle'l III
their saddles for an nin>tant. and thou fell head
long from their horses. Others tsil To rise
again and continue their flight. The band
attempted to st;lnd. then, panic stricken,
wheeled their horses and 2allpl"'l down the
valley, abandoning their ,l": and wounded
Behind them, naked, mounted on bareback
horses. and causing the heated air to quiver
again with their cries, came Tia" Pend O:cili"s
and Fiathcads, the hrav"St lmilHn> on the
continent. Their howstrl:.> twHnsrd, and a
cloud Of arrows preceded their linz" and
tongues of smoke shot out of tho f"w rifles
their braves carried. Asthey gnllopa'i in pur
suit, active men lcape,l from tlei,' horses and
scalpins knives flashed around til" heads of
their dead enemies and srall's bloody and
warm were twirlcd on high with exultant
shouts.
The Barkfeet, flying before the Pend Ore
lies, crowded into the stocka,lc,l corral of the
trading post and dropped the heavy gate into
pl..ce The so called srolIrgrs of the northern
plains were corraletl to tii,. nunl!"r of 250
They were frantic from ina.. Outside the
valley was apparently abandoned ls' animal
life excepting Il bunch of horses slowly dis
appearing up the valley The victorious Pend
Oreile. had comprchen'ie.i the 81 uation at n
glance They had diSnount.sl and sank out
of sight in the grass. behind trees, under the
bank at the river Wherever there was cover
there lurked Pend Orcille or Flathead
brave At last utter two generations Of rob
berry and nil-]sr and savage foray on the
part of the Blackfeet, the Pond Ureiles had
got the upper hand in fight and they meant
to cS;crnluate that war party. They had
driven them to cover, driven them to the
protection afforded by white men and a fort.
Tie Blaekfeet warriors belonged 10 the
celebrated Piegan clan, famous for desperate
valor aud fcar.esSness. They We're mighty
men. few of them We're less than feet in
height They We're broad should"red and
lean fanked Each brave carried a breech
loading rife. two heavy Colts rcvolvers and
n short. powerful bow and a quiver Stalled
with long, iron tipped, grooveloni feathered
war arrows. Many of them were wounded.
The feate.el butt of all arrow stuck out of
the abdomen of one of the PieganS. and its
iron head was thrust six inches out Of his
back The arms and legs of other Indians
yerr >i,ewered with arrows that they had not
had time to extract during their disoIderly
retreat Quickly the arrows were broken
and pulled out and the wounds bound up.
These wounded Indians were gray from fear
and pain. All of them were greatly excited.
1hev cia,norad for aciinittance to the heavy
fort They stool singly or in groups chant
:ns their sad death song. They made no Or
Callizei effort to man the stockale and beat
oil their enemies. They We're the most thor
rachly demoralizei troops have ever seen.
tIas-v. tho trader. dill not dare to admit them
witlaA the protective walls of the fort. Notori-
.ou>lv u - liero,ls, the Blackfcet would have
been ,u,sa.. allies. They might have nur-
aered every white man in the fort if they
were admitted Outside the stockade the
Pend Oreiiles, slim. nrtive men, barehealed
and almost naked armed with bows and
arrows and a few muze ioali,s rifles. fitted
as spectcrs among the trees. their bowstrings
'twangng, and their hong war arrows whizzing
in swarms through the air, They gradually